After complete and utter US domination in the Ryder Cup, all attentions turn back to the PGA Tour and this week’s Sanderson Farm Championship.
The PGA Tour returns to the Country Club of Jackson Mississippi, where the Sanderson Farm Championship has been held since 2014. The event is missing some of the world’s biggest US and European Ryder Cup stars who are taking a well-earnt rest after last week’s exploits but there is still a top-quality field gathered.
Leading the betting is one of last year’s break-out stars, Sam Burns with Corey Connors, Will Zalatoris, Sung-Jae Im, and defending champion Sergio Garcia who is the only player from the Ryder Cup competing this week all close behind.
It’s a tournament that is wide open and everybody competing this week will see this as the perfect opportunity to get their 2021/2022 campaign up and running.
Being a regular event on the PGA Tour since 2014, the Country Club of Jackson is a course that many in the field will be familiar with.
A par 72 7461 yard parkland course, the course is traditional and tree-lined, it prides itself for its fast slick Bermuda style greens. The tourn has become affectionately known as the Mississippi Masters.
The course shouldn’t hold any fears for the players and the opportunity to score low is there. Since the tournament moved to the Country Club of Jackson the winning score has always been between -16 and -21. There are four par 5s on the course with the third hole, in particular, providing presentable eagle opportunities.
Previous winners of the event include names such as Sergio Garcia, Sebastian Munoz, Cameron Champ, Ryan Armour, and Peter Malnati. It’s a course where length will certainly help but isn’t crucial. Accurate approach play and a hot putter will be the key to success.
Our predictions for the new season didn’t get off to the best start at the Fortinet Championship with main bet Will Zalatoris being in contention all week but finishing just outside the top 10 in T11th, long-shot bet Brendan Steele made the cut and finished T42nd but Cameron Champ and Jon Rahm had shockers and failed to make the cut.
Looking for a bounce-back week, here are our selections for this year’s Sanderson Farms Championship.
MAIN BET: Cameron Tringale +2500
For those that are avid watchers of every round of a tournament, a name you will be very familiar with is that of Cameron Tringale. If tournaments were decided after one round, Tringale would be one of the world’s best.
Tringale has been consistently getting off to fast starts in his tournaments. Last year he averaged 69 in his first rounds which ranked him third on Tour. Already this year he has demonstrated his ability to start fast as he finished T2 after round 1 of the Fortinet, he would go on to finish T22.
Tringale is a talented player and his greatest strengths lie when around the green. Last year the American was ranked 16th in strokes gained through putting, and 12th for overall putting. He is one of the best at avoiding silly and unnecessary three-putts, finishing inside the top 15 for the least amount of three-putts. He gives himself plenty of birdie looks and his scoring average of 69.79 saw Tringale just finish outside of the top 20 overall on Tour.
Tringale has performed ok at this tournament, making the cut in each of his last four visits with his best finish coming in 2020 where he finished 16th.
Tringale definitely has the game to win and we are severely hoping that this week he can string four good rounds together. A saver on Tringale to finish inside the top 5 at +500 and or inside the top 10 at +220 could be good ways to play.
DARK HORSE: Sebastian Munoz +4000
In a wide-open tournament, one man potentially flying under the radar is 2019 winner Sebastian Munoz. Munoz returns to the venue where he has won his only PGA tournament to date.
Munoz is a solid player who always seems to be floating in and around the top end of the leaderboard. However, his season got off to a poor start as he missed the cut in his opening event the Fortinet Championship.
Munoz’s stats make for interesting reading as there is nothing that particularly jumps out, solid on the greens and around it, Munoz was one of the best scramblers on Tour last year. Despite not being a household name the Colombian last year was a birdie machine, scoring 417 for all of last season which was the 5th best on Tour. His average of four birdies per round was enough to place him inside the top 30 for the year.
His record at the Country Club of Jackson reads well as he has recorded finishes of 23rd, 1st, 50th, and 35th. Hoping that he will give us a good run for our money, Munoz is priced at +4000 for victory and +800 for a top 5 finish, and +400 for a top 10.
LONG SHOT: Peter Malnati +10000
Our long shot for this week is Peter Malnati. Malnati is perhaps the form player when it comes to this event and he has some impressive finishes at this venue. He won the event back in 2016 and was unlucky to not win it again last year, going down by just a shot to eventual winner Sergio Garcia.
Malnati isn’t a big name by any stretch and his game and stats reflect that of a good solid professional. What jumps out is his putting and on a course that prides itself on its fast, slick greens you can see why Malnati has performed well here. For overall putting last season Malnati ranked 10th overall on Tour finishing 12th in putting average and 14th for overall one-putts.
Malnati has only won one event in his career which was this tournament, he posted a decent 22nd place at the Fortinet, so is swinging the club well. Priced at +10000 for the win, +2000 for a top 5 finish, and +1000 for a top 10 finish, there could be some fantastic place value to be had with a man who clearly loves it around the Country Club of Jackson.
Passionate writer about golf and the PGA Tour, you won’t find me on the fairway but instead hacking my way round the course. Terrible driver of the ball, even worse putter.
Love all sports but have decided to make my sporting life as miserable as possible by supporting Tottenham Hotspur and the Dallas Cowboys, who between them have gone almost a century without a major league title.
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